Please Never Fall In Love Again
by BFCAS
Summary: Chloe never hears Max play the guitar and so when she wakes in the middle of the night to find her playing it, she capitalises on the opportunity.


Day six of Pricefield Week, here we go. The prompt was Canon-Divergence/Music, but I just focused on the music side, writing this piece that is inspired totally by 'Please Never Fall In Love Again' by OllieMN. It's a seriously lovely little song and if you haven't heard it, get it in your ears, you won't regret it.

Ever since I first heard it, I thought it fit Chloe and Max perfectly and I don't even know why. But alas, it made me write this. I hope you enjoy.

...

Being back at Blackwell after nearly three years of expulsion had been strange for Chloe at first. She didn't know half the kids there anymore but the campus was the exact same. She couldn't tell if she felt out of place or not as she wandered through the halls she used to haunt, a strange mix of sadness and relief as she saw some unknown guy open the locker she used to own.

The only place she felt comfortable anymore, the only place that didn't inspire confusing feelings, was Max's dorm room. The photos on the wall, the evergrowing collection of house plants and the beat up old teddy bear sat on her duvet creating a space that was so distinctly Max, it felt a world away from Blackwell. It felt like childhood and comfort and Chloe liked to spend as much of her time there as possible.

What had started off as short visits had turned into sneaking in under the cover of night to stay over there which happened more than half of the nights of the week. Chloe had said it was so Max didn't have to get up so early for class like when she stayed at hers but really she just enjoyed the cosy feel of the room and the way they would have to lie way closer in Max's smaller bed.

It was one of those nights, Chloe sneaking in just after curfew with a rucksack slung over her shoulder. Max had had some homework to do and Chloe had shrugged, just happy to be somewhere where she could chill and be in comfortable silence with her best friend.

After watching a movie and splitting a pizza, Chloe had clambered into bed, disappointed when Max had told her she just had to finish the last chapter of her book for English class. She inwardly sulked as she settled into bed alone, Max sat at the foot of the bed with her hand resting on the feet that Chloe had propped in her lap.

She didn't know when she fell asleep but Chloe woke a while later, her face smashed against the pillow and her arm hanging off the edge of the bed where she was sprawled. She opened her eyes, the lanterns on the wall the only light source, meaning it was still night. _Then where was Max?, _Chloe wondered as her hand brushed against cold, empty sheets next to her.

Her question was answered as she turned her head on the pillow, seeing Max sat cross-legged on the couch across the room, playing some unknown riff on her guitar. Chloe watched in silence as Max played, in awe of the way the girl relaxed into it and her hands worked so effortlessly across the frets and strings. She remembered Max playing it as a kid, having to suffer through hundreds of tuneless renditions of Knocking on Heaven's Door. The five years apart had given her plenty of opportunity to practice, Chloe noted as Max played some soft chords.

"Could have been one lonely night, just like the others." Max sang as she played and woah, okay, Chloe didn't know she could sing. How could she not know that? She had heard her sing along to music in the car and as they hung out but had no idea she had such a sweet tone until right now, where Chloe could really just listen with no other noise.

"But you lit up my life, this is what it's like to be lovers." Max sang, the volume of her voice and the guitar barely loud enough to make a noise where she thought Chloe was asleep. The chords modulated and Chloe watched her hand move, entranced by the whole scene.

"You and me need never be lonely again. Spin with me endlessly, or at least until the end." The poeticism of the lyrics made Chloe smile against the pillow and she tried to ignore the way her heart did little backflips as she stared at Max in the soft shadowy light.

"Please never fall in love again. Oh, please never fall in love again." Max sang and Chloe felt her heart stop its backflips to land in a crumpled heap, as it sank at the words. Who did Max write this about? Whose ass did she have to kick? And most importantly, what lucky son of a bitch was good enough for the most caring, genuine and beautiful girl that Chloe knew to have Max Caulfield's heart?

Chloe couldn't help the jealousy that poked at her as she ran her mind over it. If only she wasn't such a fuck up and Max wasn't such a perfect human, maybe she would have the courage to finally confess her feelings for her. But Max would never like her like that. They were friends. Best friends. Just friends.

She shook the thoughts away, instead focusing back on Max, her reverence for the girl spilling out of her in droves as she listened to her play, smiling as she fumbled on a chord for a second.

"And if some other guy catches your eye," The notes that Max sang made Chloe's heart flutter where they were so nice, distracting her from the lyrics for a moment before she realised what they had said. Other guy? Wait, was this song about a girl? For some reason, the jealously Chloe felt doubled in her chest at the thought of it.

"Please just text me your goodbye. You know I don't look pretty when I cry." Chloe furrowed her brow at that, the last sentence sparking a memory in her head. A little over a month ago, on the Saturday of the week they reunited- the craziest, most insane week Chloe could ever conceive of- Max, even though everything had worked out, had cried in her arms until all her tears were gone. Chloe forgot that although she may have only experienced one timeline of insanity, Max had been through so much more. After her tears stopped, Max had sat up with a snotty nose and a red face. Chloe had laughed softly at her, wiping her tears away as Max blushed in embarrassment at the state of herself. Chloe had smiled down at her and earnestly told her that she was still pretty when she cried, a fact that Max point blank refused. Surely it was just a coincidence?

"And I don't want that to be your final glimpse of me, baby. But if you could please return my Shrek DVD's maybe?" As Max sang the lyrics, her voice full of emotion that Chloe couldn't quite read, Chloe's blood ran cold with shock. Shrek DVDs? Like the ones she had taken from Max's room when she helped her pack for Seattle when they were teenagers? The ones she had taken as a guarantee that Max would come back to see her, just so she could collect them in person? (Which turned out to be a shit plan, as Max had never come back and they had been thrown in a drawer after two years of waiting patiently for their owner to return.)

Was this song about her?

Shit, her heart thudded solidly in her chest as she tried to hold all feelings of excitement, nerves and head over heels love inside so as not to startle Max in the middle of this intimate moment.

Max loved her? The way she loved Max? Was this a prank? Or some beautiful dream that she would wake from any second? So many questions to answer but they all got thrown aside as Chloe focused on her best friend singing the last few lines.

"Please never fall in love again. Oh, please never fall in love again. Please." Max finished. She sat quietly for a moment before she sighed, her fingers playing a random scale as she looked at the floor.

"Sounds nice, hippie." Chloe said, sleep still staining her voice where she had only woken up a few minutes ago. Max looked up in surprise, her hands stilling on the guitar.

"Oh, uh, thanks. I didn't know you were awake." Max stammered, putting the guitar down on the floor, it resting against the arm of the couch. Chloe stretched out on the bed, smiling to herself as she noticed Max's eyes subtly scan her form.

"I wasn't but I didn't mind the wake up call." She shrugged, relaxing back into the sheets. "What were you playing?"

Even though it was dark, Chloe could see the blush form on Max's cheeks before she stood and moved nervously to her desk, shuffling papers that lay on it in a way that Chloe knew she was only doing to stall answering the question.

"Just something I wrote." She mumbled into the silence of the room and Chloe only just kept in her yell of excitement, knowing that it really was a song written by Max, about her and MAX CAULFIELD LOVED HER.

For a brief moment, Chloe considered asking her if it was about her. Or running across the room to kiss her. But then she realised that Max hadn't originally wanted her to hear the song, playing it in the privacy of her own company whilst Chloe slept. So she decided to play ignorant, to keep Max calm lest she not climb into the bed next to her so they could sleep under the same duvet.

"Well, I like it. Could use some grunge and a sweet guitar solo but I guess it'll do." Chloe joked, making Max laugh softly as she visibly relaxed. Chloe smiled at it, knowing that Max was no longer panicking at being caught out.

There was a long moment of loaded silence where they simply smiled at each other and all Chloe could think was how beautiful Max was, the thought running through her head in a constant loop.

"Come and get your skinny ass into bed, Caulfied." Chloe said, finally breaking the moment as the need to feel Max's warmth next to her became too unbearable. Max crossed the room, tugging her socks from her feet as Chloe threw the duvet over herself.

"Why does the Blackhell heating system suck absolute balls?" She asked, making Max laugh as she settled under the duvet.

"They waste too much money on stowaways." Max joked, turning so she faced away from Chloe like they always slept. Chloe felt particularly brave though, shuffling forward to chuckle into Max's shoulder as she threw an arm over the brunette's waist.

"You're the one aiding and abetting, dude." She quipped, enjoying how Max settled into her embrace and brought a hand up to cover the one on her own waist.

"Shut up." Max said and Chloe could hear the smile in her voice where she knew Chloe had her beat.

And with Max in her arms and her song still playing on repeat in her brain, Chloe fell asleep, more peaceful and full of love than ever before.


End file.
